The panel ruled that both the Virginia ban on same-sex marriage, as well as the ban on state recognition of same-sex couples married elsewhere, were unconstitutional.

Writing for the majority, Judge Henry Floyd said, “We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable. However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws.” He continued, “The choice of whether and whom to marry is an intensely personal decision that alters the course of an individual’s life. Denying same-sex
couples this choice prohibits them from participating fully in our society, which is precisely the type of segregation that the Fourteenth Amendment cannot countenance.”

In a news conference in Richmond, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D) said, “Sometimes battles have been fought in the legislature, sometimes in the courtroom, sometimes even in the streets, but inevitably no effort to restrict the rights or limit the opportunities of our fellow Americans has ever succeeded in the long term.”